The American Spectator

Let me say up front that I could list a bunch of reasons that Tom DeLay should NOT be in the GOP leadership. Because the Dems say so in NOT one of those reasons. If Mr. DeLay were not so darned effective in hitting the Dems where it hurts, they would be content to simply let him go along with only minor sniping from time to time. He should NOT be ousted during or because of a Dem hissy fit.

Just in the last decade, the Dems have taken the scalps of Newt Gingrich, Rep. Livingston, and Trent Lott, all on trumped up garbage that the Dems themselves are doing. All this while their own folks are committing felonies and walking away clean, as in Rep. McDermott, just for one. Of course this is only possible with the full assistance of the DNC department known as “the media.”

I agree that the conservatives need to commit an overt act to get the GOP to quit taking them for granted. I agree that the GOP has, in large measure, abandoned its principles of frugality, efficiency, and merit for easy spending, growing the government, and cronyism under George Bush. We cannot, however, keep giving the Dems and radical liberalism cheap victories with our help. It might help if the GOP quit acting like Dem Lite and quit trying to get the Dems and the media to still love them in the morning.

p>Let us rescue Tom DeLay from the Dems, then slap him upside the head to get his attention and sit him among the back benchers until he learns his lesson. We don’t need the Dems to help us in this, and we darn sure don’t need to be helping the Dems to take down every right of center person that achieves a modicum of success. br> — Ken Shreve br> New Hampshire /p> p> Andrew Cline is right on the money, as it were. It is also true on social issues. Speaking as a Pennsylvanian, we have seen good conservatives treated like dirt by the party establishment. No wonder Santorum is in trouble. br> — Chris Fletcher /p> p> Cline accurately disjoins conservatism from Republicanism. There is really no difference between Bush I and Bush II. The latter wanted a “kinder, gentler nation,” and Bush II wanted “compassionate conservatism.” These are the same insult wrapped in different packages. In these politically correct times, when have you heard Bush II criticize anyone? Answer: the Minutemen (vigilantes) and the Anti-Miers (Mrs. W. and her sexist comment). While we were fortunate to have a wartime president when 9/11 hit, Roosevelt didn’t do too bad in WWII. Conservatives must not confuse our ideology with an opportunity to occasionally agree with W. br> — William Dye